


Gonna be alright

by darus_rovia



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Zombie Apocalypse, Carl is 14, Depression, Domestic Fluff, Fluffy, M/M, Married Couple, One Shot, Rick takes care of Daryl, depressed!daryl, judith is like 2 or 3, they are very in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-09-26 20:38:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9921287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darus_rovia/pseuds/darus_rovia
Summary: Daryl is having a rough morning and he can't make it out of bed, so Rick takes care of him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Felt like writing some domestic Rickyl so this is what came out... I really hope you like it.   
> Feedback is always welcome and well appreciated! :)

Rick leaned against the door frame of their bedroom. He looked at his husband laying on their king sized bed, under two blankets. He wasn't sleeping.

"Daryl... You wanna get up?" Rick asked softly, "It's almost noon. Lunch is ready in 15 minutes"

There was no answer. Rick sighed and sat next to the quiet man. He ran his hand over Daryl's shoulder, looking down trying to get an eye contact. "Wanna play with Judith? Or go biking with Carl?"

No answer. There was a lump in Rick's throat. "Wanna watch a movie?"

Daryl just grunted under his breath. Rick nodded, knowing what this Saturday was gonna be like. If Daryl didn't wanna get up, he wouldn't. Rick didn't wanna make things worse.

"This kind of day, huh?" Rick sighed, crawling next to Daryl. He pulled the covers over him and twined his hands with his husband. Their noses were almost close enough to touch.

"Sorry" Daryl spoke, for the first time that day.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. You've done nothing wrong" Rick soothed him, "It's not your fault"

Daryl pressed his forehead against Rick's. "Feel like shit"

"It's gonna pass, you know that. What do you say if I bring some lunch and we watch few Family Guy episodes?" Rick asked.

"Ye don't gotta-"

"Daryl-" Rick cut him off, "I'm not gonna leave you alone like this. I'll be right back" he said and got up.

  
Rick walked downstairs and found his son feeding his daughter. The scene made the man smile.

"Paps not gonna get up?" Carl asked.

"Not yet. He's uhm... He's having a bad day" Rick said.

Carl nodded. "And you can't just get him up?"

Rick took the lasagna out of the oven. "We've been over this, Carl" Rick snapped, "It's a _disease_. A bleeding wound does not stop bleeding if you tell it to stop, does it? If he can't get up, he can't"

Carl was looking down at his lap, feeling quilty, "Sorry" Carl mumbled.

"Carl, I know this is tricky. But I gotta be there for him now" Rick said, putting two plates filled with the food on a tray.

"I can watch Judith, you know" Carl informed.

"Thank you son" Rick said, "I gotta get Daryl to eat. Have you eaten?"

"Was about to" Carl said and Rick left the kitchen. He walked back to Daryl.

Daryl was laying on his stomach, watching outside of the window. Rick sat down and placed the tray between them.

"You have to eat" Rick said.

"Ain't hungry" Daryl muttered.

"Also you have to take your meds" Rick was holding the pills in front of Daryl, watching him.

Daryl tried to protest and muttered something that Rick couldn't make out, but Rick ignored it and didn't put hishand down. Daryl took the pills and swallowed them with water. Rick got the laptop and opened Netflix, choosing Family Guy. He leaned against the headboard and started eating.

While the episode was going, Daryl sat up next to Rick, as the next onne started he ate most of the food and let out occasional chuckles. Rick looked at his husband who was totally focused on the silly cartoon, wondering what was going inside his head. Was it just a bad morning? Something they needed to talk about? What caused the sudden depression? On the week Daryl seemed alright.

  
When the third episode ended, Rick paused it. "Daryl, maybe we should talk"

Daryl had laid down on Rick's lap, he looked up "About what?"

"You know about what" Rick said, "Did something happen?"

Daryl shook his head. "It just... I don't know. I woke up, I felt like crap"

Rick nodded, running his fingers through Daryl's hair. "Should we call your therapist?"

"Nah, no need" Daryl nodded.

"How's thenew guy going?" Rick asked.

"He's good" Daryl nodded. "He's more understanding"

"I've seen some progress" Rick's lips were starting to form a smile.

"Really?" Daryl frowned.

"Yeah" Rick nodded. "Think about this week. You went to Carl's practise. You picked up Judith from daycare twice, you went to work every day and when you dropped that juice in the market, you didn't freak out at all. I call that progress" Rick smiled.

"It was a pretty good week" Daryl chuckled.

"You can feel proud about it, Daryl" Rick said. "I am proud of you"

There was a small smile on Daryl's lips. Rick leaned down and pressed a soft kiss on his lips. "Love that smile of yours" he whispered.

There was a knock on their doorway. It was Carl. "Hey, Jude wants to go outside so I'm taking her"

Rick looked at his son. "That's good, thanks"

Carl disappeared and Rick turned his eyes back to Daryl, who was still laying on his lap. "How do you feel?"

"I don't know" Daryl muttered. "I don't like it. It's bullshit"

Rick sighed and moved Daryl so he could lay with him. He wrapped his arms around Daryl, but was higher enough for him to kiss Daryl's head easily. "It's gonna be okay" he whispered, caressing his husband's chest softly.

"Carl's taking care of Judith alone" Daryl muttered, "he shouldn't do that alone, he's 14. You should be there taking care of her, not waste your time on me. I should be- I should" Daryl stuttered as he started to tremble.

"No, Daryl no" Rick hugged him tighter. "Don't say that. Carl loves taking care of Jude, he doesn't mind doing it. And I'm not _wasting_ my time, I'm here with you. You need someone and that's perfectly okay. I'm here because I love you. We all love you"

Daryl sniffed, but didn't say anything. He just enjoyed the warmth from Rick's body.

Daryl had been depressed before him and Rick even met. And the meeting had changed Daryl's life. He started going to therapy and started medication. Rick has learned how to cope with Daryl on his worse moments. Rick didn't know how long Daryl had been depressed before they met, damn it - even Daryl didn't know that but that really didn't matter. At least not to Rick. All Rick cared about was Daryl, and he getting better. And Daryl loves him for understanding this issue.

Rick and Daryl had been spooning, who knows how long, when Carl and Judith came back from outside. Judith ran toward the men happily as Carl followed her, carrying a bag.

"What do you got there?" Rick asked as he sat up and reached for Judith.

"Well. I thought we could watch a movie together" Carl smiled. "Unless paps wants to be alone, it's-"

"No, it sounds good" Daryl said.

"We went to the store. And we got bunch of junk food" Carl opened the bag and flipped it over on the bed. Bags of chips, candy, bars of chocolate and cookies fell on the men's feet.

"Did you get Jesters?" Daryl asked.

"Of course, I did" Carl chuckled, throwing the bag of candy to Daryl.

  
The four watched Carl's favorite Disney movie, Peter Pan, eating all the goodies. Rick felt blessed to have such an amazing son. Carl and Daryl got along almost perfectly, which Rick was more than glad about. Judith has always slightly been Daryl's girl, which Rick was okay with.

It was almost 7 o'clock and Rick was doing dishes in the kitchen. Carl and Judith were playing in his room, when the man heard light foot steps. He felt hands scrape around him and a kiss on his neck.

"Love you" Daryl whispered.

Rick turned around. "You got up" he smiled.

Daryl nodded. "Thank you"

They hugged tightly, warmth and love exchanged and they breathed each other's scents. Daryl brushed his nose against Rick's neck and shoulder, enjoying the safe feeling his husband made. Rick's hand softly landed on the back of Daryl's head, knowing everything was gonna be alright.


End file.
